Writing Practice for Parents: How to Help Your Child Learn

Married people with a child have an obligation to give this child a good-quality education. Parents are part of the educational system, too. However, the majority of parents still believe that their children learning process should only be received in the schools. This is exactly why No Child Left Behind Act of the US Act of Congress has requested that the schools reach out to the students’ parents in order to try and engage them in the so called ‘learning partnership’.

Granted, the main reason for children being sent to schools lies exactly in the goal of effective teaching. But, children do not solely learn while at school. They learn by exploring and observing everything around them.

The main idea of the NCLB act is that parents need to be partners with the schools in the process of teaching their children. And while there isn’t a particularly set recipe for doing this, there are many researchers that have pointed out ways in which the parents can aid the teaching and learning process of their children.

According to Henderson and Berla (1994), there are numerous educational benefits to children that can result from this parent-teacher cooperation, such as higher grades and scores, higher rates of graduation, better school attendance and performance; and positive attitudes about schooling. Additionally, the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program (1998) has identified the parents as one of the key participants that lead to achieving higher standards when it comes to students.

‘The learning partnership between schools and parents is a crucial factor in the children’s development as students. There are certain things that have to be learned at home in order to learn something at school later’. – stated Jake Stele, a professional writer and editor at EssayGeeks.

The following are just several things that can be achieved as a result of this partnership:

1. Teaching Children Social Skills

A research from Pennsylvania State University and Duke University, which included 700 students aged between kindergarten and 25 years old, has concluded that there is a significant connection between the success and the social skills that the kids learned while they were young. The children who had limited social skills taught at home did not only have lower rates of success, but also had a higher chance of becoming criminals or binge drinking. This research was published in the American Journal on Public Health in July 2015.

"From an early age, these skills can determine whether a child goes to college or prison, and whether they end up employed or addicted." – stated Kristin Schubert, a program director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and funding participant of this particular research.

2. Praise Effort over Talent

Every kid is talented in some ways and even though parents should be proud of this, they should praise persistence and effort. Kids who receive effort praise instead of comments such as ‘You are so smart’ or ‘You are the smartest kid in the class’ are more likely to take on challenges and put more effort into things. As Ellen Galinsky, the author of Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs said: ‘Praise effort – not talent or intelligence.’

Having a talent or ability means constant development and it is important for children to see their abilities as something they should work on and develop.

3. Learn How to Promote Learning at Home

The Educational Review published a new paper that points out the importance of parental involvement in the levels of motivation and performance for children aged 4-19. ‘Nurseries have much better practices than schools because they see the parents much more often’ – said Janet Goodal, the lead author from the University of Bath.

According to this study, parents have to learn to promote learning at their homes. In order for a child to achieve positive results, it is crucial that parents get engaged in helping them with their learning. ‘In too many cases a perception exists that the responsibility of children’s learning lies solely …or largely with the school… This perception needs to shift to one where parents and schools better share this responsibility’ said Ms Goodall.

4. Show Your Child that You are Learning Too

Children praise adults, especially their parents. Therefore, talking to your child and letting them know that you are also engaged in the learning process is something you must do to boost their will to learn. A good idea is to let the child see you read. They have to be introduced to the idea that leaning is a lifetime process.

5. Practice Writing with Your Child

Writing is an important skill that everyone must develop. This is why it is crucial for a parent to practice writing in order to develop the child’s education skills. This will result in easier learning process in the nearest future, and is as important as you helping your children with homework and grammar.

A parent must be able to take the time to help their child learn some writing skills. This is especially required because most of the schools are unable to provide kids with sufficient practice or instructions in this field. There are plenty of reasons for this, such as: teachers are not trained enough to teach children writing skills, there is no sufficient time for children to practice writing at school etc.

‘Many schools are unable to give children sufficient instruction in writing’ – claimed The Office of Educational Research and Improvement. In their guide ‘Help your child learn to write well’, they have defined writing in 5 categories (see picture).

6. Children Learn Everywhere

You may think that your child will learn everything at school, but you cannot be more wrong. ‘It’s what happens in the home and the car, and everywhere else that children are during the 75 per cent of their time when they are not in school, that makes the difference.’ – Ms Goodal says. As we previously said, children start observing at young age and learn something from everything you do.

Parental involvement is more and more important in the success of children. But, in order for this to be successful, teachers and parents have to work mutually on educating the children. ‘In many instances parents don’t feel as if we welcome them in the school’ – stated a report from Strong Families, Strong Schools. This report reflects a period of 30 years of research on the parental involvement in the children’s education.

Because of this issue, the National PTA has set some National Standards for the programs that involve parents and family. Let’s have a look at them:

Promote parenting skills

Support parenting skills

Encourage participation of parents in the student learning process

Establish meaningful and regular communication between the school and the home

Welcome the student’s parents as volunteer partners in the schools

Invite the parents to act as partners in the school decisions, especially those that affect the families and the children

The community can help you with resources to strengthen the education of the students and the school itself.

All the facts mentioned above prove that parents should work on the education of their children if they want them to succeed in future. Of course, the purpose of schools and educators is to teach children as much as possible, but including parents into the educational process is a definite must. Parents should work on the education of their child because they are the essential part of the upbringing process.